![[South Africa] SAA and Emirates expand commercial relationship with enhanced codeshare agreement](Images/2018/South-African-Airways.jpg)
[South Africa] SAA and Emirates expand commercial relationship with enhanced codeshare agreement
South African Airways (SAA), the South African flag carrier and Emirates, the world's largest international airlines are expanding their commercial relationship with enhancements to a codeshare agreement, opening up new destinations for both SAA and Emirates customers.
SAA and Emirates have signed an enhanced commercial partnership, signed in 1997, across a broad spectrum of commercial and customer touch points.
"This agreement marks a significant step forward in the execution of our strategy and in transforming our business. It will enable us to explore and leverage synergies between ourselves in a much more enhanced relationship of mutual benefit. Our route network and that of Emirates complement one another. The expansion of our commercial relationship will further strengthen key focus areas of the implementation of our turnaround plan, "says SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana.
"We remain deeply committed to our decades-long relationship with SAA, and the forthcoming expansion of our codeshare agreement is an exciting milestone in our history in South Africa," said Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline.
"We have seen great success with the codeshare agreement, having enabled greater connectivity to both SAA and Emirates customers, by offering more choice, flexibility and ease of access to a wide range of cities through Dubai and across more points in Southern Africa. Increasing the scope of our agreement we share with SAA and our belief that this enhanced partnership will enable further success and gain in the airlines and their customers ".
In 2017/18, the codeshare agreement between SAA and Emirates saw approximately 90,000 passengers benefit from seamless travel and greater connectivity. Emirates launched operations to South Africa in 1995 with flights between Dubai and Johannesburg. The relationship between SAA and Emirates spans over 20 years dating back to June 1997 with the signing of Emirates' first ever codeshare agreement, which is the Emirate to Dubai.
SAA is able to offer its customers on flights operated by Emirates between South Africa and Dubai (four daily flights from Johannesburg including its iconic A380 aircraft, three daily flights from Cape Town and one daily flight from Durban). means the codeshare will be expanded across both carriers' networks.
The two airlines will work towards bringing synergies in their respective route network, customer touch points, cargo services and flight schedules to enable seamless connectivity and enhance passenger flows. Connectivity will be improved through Johannesburg, with a special focus on popular regional markets.
Included in the new agreement are plans to enhance the frequent flyer programs, SAA's Voyager and Emirates' Skywards program. Emirates became a Voyager airline partner in 2000, which means Voyager members are able to earn and redeem Miles on flights operated by Emirates; and similarly, Skywards members are able to earn and redeem Miles on SAA-operated flights.
The airlines will work on other areas of bilateral cooperation and exchange of best practices across multiple airline functions.
